Dec. 22, 2011
Notes |
New Mexico Lobos Men’s Basketball – In The Pit
Thursday: New Mexico Lobos (10-2) 87, Missouri-Kansas City (7-7) 62
Up Next: Dec. 28, Lobos at New Mexico State – Pan American Center – Las Cruces
By Richard Stevens – Senior Writer/GoLobos.com
The Lobos’ December leading into the Christmas break had no lumps of coal for Coach Steve Alford or his Lobos.
New Mexico won its eighth straight game and stayed perfect in December with an 87-62 roll over Missouri-Kansas City Thursday night in The Pit.
However, the Lobos still have to face a bah-humbug Grinch that awaits New Mexico on Dec. 28 in Las Cruces. This New Mexico State Scrooge probably is hoping the ghost of their impressive 62-53 win in The Pit on Nov. 16 doesn’t plan to change anything in the future.
One thing has changed. The Lobos are a much better team on both ends of the court than what the Aggies hammered in The Pit more than a month ago. The Lobos also have a healthy Phillip McDonald, who has battled an assortment of ailments and injuries, which have limited his playing time and his productivity this season.
McDonald looked pretty fit running The Pit Thursday night and his 11-0 run helped pull UNM out of a tight 27-19 game into a 40-24 halftime lead. McDonald made three 3-pointers and a jumper during his two-minute run.
“He has a few confidence issues because he’s been out of the lineup and out of the rotation,” said Alford. “He’s had a lot of tough luck. But he’s getting heathy.
“It really makes our bench potent having someone like that coming off our bench. Having him play well will help us move forward.”
The UNM senior finished the half as the only double-figure scorer with 13 points going 3-of-4 from long range and 5-of-8 overall. McDonald’s first-half heat pushed him into the Lobos 1,000-Point Club. He finished the game with 18 points — a season high. Senior Drew Gordon also scored 18 points.
McDonald wasn’t the only Lobo coming off the bench with a big game for UNM. Jamal Fenton scored 16 points off the bench while dishing out eight assists against no turnovers. Demetrius Walker also came off the pine to deal out seven assists.
“It’s about moving the basketball and being unselfish,” said Alford. “We’re sharing the basketball and making the extra pass. It’s a healthy environment in the locker room from a chemisty standpoint. These guys don’t care who scores. They care about winning.”
Tony Snell also reached double figures with 12 points. Gordon was UNM’s top board man with six rebounds. The Lobos had ten players in double-figure minutes. UNM’s Kendall Williams did not play Thursday vs. Missouri-Kansas City.
“He had a poor semester academically,” said Alford. “It wasn’t to the standard that we aspire to at UNM. A message had to be sent to him and the team.
“He has some things he has to work on over the break, but it’s a one-game deal. It’s not an easy thing to do, but there aren’t separate rules in our program. It’s not just about winning games on the basketball court. It’s about teaching young men the importance of education.”
The Lobos came out of the half up by 16 points and quickly pushed it to 21 (45-24) on a 3-pointer by Snell and a dunk by Gordon. The Roos had a few good moments, but not enough and the Lobos continued to drift away.
Fenton scored on an acrobatic drive with 8:50 to play and the Lobos were riding a fat 25-point lead (67-42) down into the final minutes.
UNM cruised to the 87-62 final.
The Lobos are 5-0 in December, but will be tested in the last week of the month to maintain that unblemished mark. The Lobos lost in The Pit to the NMSU Aggies and have to try and reverse that score in the Aggies’ Pan American Center.
UNM also has a tough Pit game on Dec. 31 against the Rick Majerus-coached St. Louis Billikens. Saint Louis won the 76 Classic in Anaheim, Calif., where the Lobos went 2-1 out of the consolation bracket.
First Half: New Mexico Lobos 40, Missouri-Kansas City 24
The Lobos didn’t start out on all cylinders vs. the Kangaroos like the Lobos did two nights earlier against Montana State. However, once the Lobos warmed up – and found the hot hand — they steadily pulled away from the Kangaroos.
The hot first-half hand Tuesday was Tony Snell, but that heat was passed on to Phillip McDonald , who led all first-half scorers with 13 points.
The Lobo senior came off the bench to score 11 straight UNM points from the 2:59 mark to the :50 mark help pull UNM out of a tight 27-19 score and into a 40-24 halftime lead.
The Lobos opened the half with a 3-pointer from Hugh Greenwood which UMKC matched to form a 3-all tie. Greenwood got a steal and was fouled on his drive. The freshman made both free throws an UNM was up 5-3. The Roos’ Trinity Hall made a layup at the other end to again knot the game, this time at 5-all.
The Roos went ahead 6-5 – their first and only lead of the game — before Jamal Fenton scored on a drive to push the Lobos up 7-6. Snell slipped loose on quick transition by UNM and a Snell dunk put UNM up 10-7. UMKC called a quick timeout.
The Lobos went up 12-9 on a Fenton drive and went up 14-9 on a McDonald dunk off a Gordon pass. Again, UMKC decided to quiet The Pit, and hopefully the Lobos, with a timeout. UNM came out of their huddle and got a reverse from Gordon to take a 16-9 lead into the 11:34 media break.
The Lobos’ intensity seemed to slowly be growing, especially on the defensive end. They drifted up 21-11 fueled by a 3-pointer and a layup by Fenton. UNM went up by 14 points, 25-11, off two free throws by Demetrius Walker before the Roos knocked down two treys to make it 25-17.
A jumper by Snell made the count 27-19 before the McDonald-fueled Lobo run helped form the 40-24 halftime score.